Woman carjacked in St. Pete after stopping for dog's potty break

A woman was carjacked in St. Petersburg on Monday night after stopping her sport utility vehicle to let her dog out to relieve itself.

Denise Malone, 51, stopped her Honda CRV at roughly 8 p.m. near 11th Avenue North and 37th Street when two men approached her, knocked her down, took her keys and drove off in the Honda, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz.

Malone hit her head on the sidewalk but wasn't seriously hurt. The dog was not injured, Puetz said.

Police later spotted the CRV and gave chase, but they eventually lost sight of it, Puetz said. The SUV later turned up abandoned in the 4100 block of 11th Avenue South, in an alley.